The beginnings and development of a New Zealand music: The life ...

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Thus, Lilburn uses the brass for its power of penetration, its
weight of dynamic, and, particularly the trumpets, for their brilliance
of sound in the upper register. The brass·is the instrumental force
held in reserve for highlighting and strengthening important passages.
The success of Lilburn's brass writing is in no small way due to the
fact that he does not over-use these instruments. When they appear in
the score, they are used for maximum impact.
Percussion
In the Festival Overture, Lilburn's percussion section comprises
timpani, triangle, bass drum, cymbals and side drum. In the Aotearoa
Overture it ~omprises timpani, cymbals and triangle. Curiously, after
the Aotearoa Overture, in his works from his first period of composition,
he makes no further use of non-pitched percussion instruments. In Song
of the Antipodes, Symphony No.1, Symphony No.2, and Suite for
Orchestra the only percussion instrument employed is the timpani.
Lilburn's use of non-pitched percussion in the' early overtures
is in the main confined to adding weight to climaxes, although he makes
lavish use of the triangle in both works to alter the general ambience
of the orchestral sound.
His use of timpani, however, is not restricted to climax points.
Often it is used to help reinforce a pedal note, sometimes it is used to
reinforce the harmonic bass-line, and sometimes it is incorporated into
a melodic phrase as a solo instrument.
In whatever guise, the timpani appears with surprisingly high
frequency throughout his works, as the following table illustrates:
Table 10: Frequency of appearance of timpani.
Work
Festival
Aotearoa
Antipodes
Symphony 1, movt. I
Symphony 2, movt.I
Suite movts. I, II
% appearance
41%
33%
,19%
30%
25%
24%
% other percussion total bars
23% 247
14% 244
Nil 507
Nil 338
Nil 252
Nil 239
Throughout these compositions there is evidence of a growing
sophistication in Lilburn's use of the timpani. In the earlier works,